Twitter has spent a ton of money figuring out what tweets are popular, what tweets people are actually reading, clicking on, interacting with, retweeting etc…

If someone has a million followers, and they get retweeted a thousand times by ditto head fans, that is valuable…

But, if the followers of the ditto heads ignore the retweets, the message was effectively seen by a thousand people (many of them probably ignored the message and just retweeted it, because their idol told them to).

That tweet, although retweeted 1000 times, not very valuable.

But, if one person, with 0 followers, creates a tweet that EVERYONE pauses to READ in a hashtag room, that is valuable too.

This one tweet could be read by a million people!

Obviously having a lot of fans is important, but, what percentage of a twitterer’s fan base is real? What percentage of a twitterer’s fan base actually reads his/her tweets?

I see people with thousands of followers, that is impressive.

Some of these people are following many people, I honestly believe the maximum number of people, a person can effectively follow is about 200, and that may be too much, verdict pending…

What is really impressive: seeing someone with a ton of followers, that aren’t following many people, like for instance Donald Trump.

If you are new, and don’t have a ton of followers, it is tempting to trade follows, i.e., follow a bunch of people in hopes, some follow you back, or, follow those that follow you (as a thank you gesture).

Don’t do this!

Instead:

Follow someone, if you are 100% committed to reading their tweets.

Seek followers who are 100% committed to reading your tweets (fans).

This is real; this is power.

How does one get there?

Answer: I’m not sure- but- I have a theory.

First step is to be 100% committed to creating valuable (majik) tweets.

A majik tweet:

Inspires people.

Makes people laugh.

Starts a conversation.

Makes people think.

Shows people a cool image.

I’m sure there are many things that could make this above list; what’s important, in creating a majik tweet, is creating a tweet that has value to your recipient.

Does the tweet enrich the reader’s lives, even for just a second?

Here is a list of tweet items, guess which ones are majik tweets; which ones aren’t:

A joke.

A picture of kittens.

A funny story.

An inspirational quote.

A compelling news story.

A unique perspective you agree with, or disagree with enough to make you respond.

An ad for a book.

An ad for a blog post.

Your concert dates.

Get it?

The key to creating a majik tweet is to create value for others. A tweet loses its power, the more it benefits you, directly.

Ironic, isn’t it.

If you want your tweet to have power, remove direct benefit from it. Instead, try to create a masterpiece of value, in 140 characters.

A tweet should stand on its own two feet, it should be something beyond click here for the goodies.

Here is a test to see if your tweet has majik power.

The majik tweet test:

If you wrote the 140 character message, on a paper notecard; handed it to a total stranger:

Would they benefit from it? If they did nothing but read it?

Would they put it in their pocket?

Would they xerox it? Hand out copies to their friends?

Would they spend money to have it engraved on a plaque, or frame it?

Tweets like this are hard work. They require an eye for plagiarism, or a very creative mind.

If you are a writer, a comedian, a blogger, or someone that makes a living by selling your words, this concept is difficult. Most of these people become serial spammers on Twitter, in the hopes of selling their paid content; I don’t blame them.

It goes back to the axiom:

Those that focus on giving, will have more than they need.

Those that focus on taking, will NEVER have enough.

Twitter is a brand new medium; there has never been anything like it on Earth. The rules for success are different there, than in any other medium, as words, text of 140 characters, can actually become a living breathing organism, bouncing around in cyberspace for hours, days, weeks, months, years, millennia.